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Finally, a book that explores the challenges unique to raising identical twins.

Informative and entertaining!

When we learned our twins were identical, I panicked. I had heard so many myths and misconceptions about identical twins. What if we did everything wrong? Was there some secret to raising identical twins? Was there really any difference at all between raising identicals and fraternals?

I scoured the Internet and the book stores for information on issues that make raising identical twins different from raising their fraternal peers. I found plenty of scientific articles, but nothing else. None of the stuff I craved. I wanted to know whether they would walk and talk at the same time, whether they would like the same foods, whether to dress them alike, whether we should keep them together in school. I wanted to know how to raise them so they each had his own identity, but also cherished and appreciated the bond between them.

My frustration led to the creation of a blog, The Boys: Raising Identical Twins (twinsblog.troupsburg.com). I wrote about my own experiences, joys and frustrations in raising Matthew and Jonathan. I explored challenges, dynamics and answers. The response was incredible. Immediately, I began receiving messages from people who were grateful to finally find information that pertained specifically to their situations. Most were parents of identical twins, but many were identical twins themselves.

That blog became this book.

Raising Identical Twins: The Unique Challenges and Joys of the Early Years is not a reference guide, a discipline manual or a child-rearing philosophy. Rather it is a compilation of my own experiences and observations coupled with research and analysis, written in hopes of taking some of the stress out of raising identical twins for others. It is written to inform, but also to entertain. It is a fun read even for those with no twins.

So often, I’ve heard people argue that raising identical twins is no different than raising fraternal twins. That’s not true. Raising two people who look alike, are the same age and share identical brain waves is a challenge of its own. Though the challenge can be frustrating at times, it is most often unbearably rewarding. My hope is that parents who read this book will find reassurance in our experiences with Jonathan and Matthew, and will enter identical-twin parenthood with nothing but confidence and anticipation.

From the book jacket

Do identical twins get the same teeth at the same time? Do they feel each other’s pain? Should they be placed in the same classroom or separated? Should they dress alike? Should they get the same gifts on birthdays and holidays? Are identical twins hereditary? Are their fingerprints alike? When the hospital pediatrician told Lori Duffy Foster her twins were identical, her mind started reeling. She is a journalist and curiosity is in her nature. So she started a blog to record observations of her own twins as they grew, and to provide other parents of identical twins and their relatives with answers to questions they wouldn’t find anywhere else. That blog became this book. RAISING IDENTICAL TWINS: THE UNIQUE CHALLENGES AND JOYS OF THE EARLY YEARS takes readers on a journey from the birth of her twins through their sixth birthday, and is peppered with fascinating facts, advice and studies specific to children who share DNA. It is intended to entertain and inform while, hopefully, spreading some of the happiness and love her twins bring her own family throughout the universe.

Product Specs

TITLE: Raising Identical Twins: The Unique Challenges and Joys of the Early Years

I am a former newspaper reporter who writes fiction and nonfiction from the hills of Northern Pennsylvania, where I live with my husband and four children. Part of my heart remains in the Adirondack Mountains, where I was born and raised, and I left pieces in Phoenix and Cincinnati, where our children were born. I hold a master’s degree in creative writing from Binghamton University and a bachelor’s degree from SUNY-Oswego. As a journalist, I covered everything from crime to education to the military for The (Syracuse, N.Y.) Post-Standard. My short fiction has appeared in the journal Aethlon, and in the anthologies Short Story America and Childhood Regained. My nonfiction has appeared in Healthy Living, Running Times, Literary Mama, Crimespree, Parent.com and Mountain Home magazines. I work on crime novels in my spare time. Raising Identical Twins: The Unique Challenges and Joys of the Early Years is my first published book. I currently teach English part time at Alfred University.